George Brown College has been honoured for a virtual work placement aimed at helping youth in South Africa — a deeply impactful experience for student interns that provided benefits for young people in Cape Town.
EDU Africa, an organization that partners with post-secondary institutions to provide experiential learning opportunities in eastern and southern Africa, recently honoured George Brown's Community Worker virtual internship with its 2022 Most Transformative Program award.
Students in the Community Worker program at the School of Social and Community Services completed a placement with the YMCA in Cape Town. Interns focused on a new program there called YJustice. It's aimed at providing reintegration and upskilling opportunities for youth who've come into conflict with the law and for youth at risk. GBC students met virtually with South African community partners to ask questions and learn about social issues in the community with the goal of helping YJustice participants.
“The partnership with EDU Africa provides students with a global experience in learning more about community needs in Southern Africa," said Zeenat Janmohamed, Chair of the School of Social and Community Services. “The placement introduced students to important values that support learning in the Community Worker program, and we look forward to ongoing engagement.”
Positive student feedback
Twelve students participated in the virtual placement, which was guided by three United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: 1. No poverty; 4. Quality education; and 10. Reduced inequalities.
In feedback on the program, students shared the positive effect the experience had on them.
"EDU-Africa is key to my development as a person and community worker. Learning about South Africa, its issues, solutions, and approach was a great learning experience. It was also a chance to see we are similar and different at the same time," one student wrote. "The passion of those doing this sort of work in South Africa will always resonate with me."
Developing skills for a global workforce
The work-integrated learning opportunity was funded by George Brown College and the Global Skills Opportunity, the Government of Canada's Outbound Student Mobility Pilot Program.
"We're so proud to receive this honour from EDU Africa, which reflects the benefits work-integrated learning provides to students, partner organizations and the clients they serve," said George Brown's Director of Work-Integrated Learning and Experiential Education, Dario Guescini. "These experiences help students develop the skills and intercultural competencies to succeed in the global workforce."
